Sahih al-Bukhari
Sahih al-Bukhari 1585
The superiority of Makkah and its buildings, and the statement of Allah Ta'ala
Arabic hadith text
حَدَّثَنَا عُبَيْدُ بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو أُسَامَةَ، عَنْ هِشَامٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ ـ رضى الله عنها ـ قَالَتْ قَالَ لِي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم "لَوْلاَ حَدَاثَةُ قَوْمِكِ بِالْكُفْرِ لَنَقَضْتُ الْبَيْتَ ثُمَّ لَبَنَيْتُهُ عَلَى أَسَاسِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ ـ عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ ـ فَإِنَّ قُرَيْشًا اسْتَقْصَرَتْ بِنَاءَهُ ـ وَجَعَلْتُ لَهُ خَلْفًا ". قَالَ أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ حَدَّثَنَا هِشَامٌ خَلْفًا يَعْنِي بَابًا
Translation
Narrated `Aisha
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to me, "Were your people not close to the Pre-Islamic period of ignorance, I would have demolished the Ka`ba and would have rebuilt it on its original foundations laid by Abraham (for Quraish had curtailed its building), and I would have built a back door (too)."